Health Check (Kind of)
Posted: Fri 4 January, 2013 Filed under: Domestic, Health, People | Tags: GP, health 4 Comments »So – how the hell does a GP surgery manage to be no less than 40 minutes late for appointments by 9.40 in the morning? I’d be impressed, if it weren’t for – well – being 40 minutes late.
Even then the full check hasn’t been done – I’ve had the bloods taken to check for Diabetes, Thyroid Levels and Cholesterol, but no blood-pressure test or anything. Supposedly “the receptionist should’ve booked you for a double slot so I could do all that, I don’t have the time to do it all in one slot“.
Of course, that just pissed me off. Other things can cause delays of 40 minutes, but you’re going to just ditch me off because you haven’t got the time? Perhaps it would be easier if you were slightly more organised, and didn’t take half the time I was in there to faff about trying to find things?
So far though, all OK.
I’m now due back in two weeks’ time to find out the results of the blood tests and so on, and at the same time they’ll do my blood-pressure. (Mind you, it’ll likely still be low-normal, which always befuddles the GPs who look at my height/size, and then retake it twice more)
Was this a nurse, a GP or a HCA? In all practices I know of (quite a few, given the age of most of my acquaintances…), only HCAs now take blood, and, indeed, in some, they don’t take blood, and make you go to the nearest hospital phlebotomy service.
The thing that always amazes me is that if you move a lot, you get regular health checks through having to register as a new patient each time. Those of us who remain registered with one GP for a long time aren’t offered this service. Why?
It was a/an HCA for this bit. GP appt in a weeks’ time to go through the results etc.
As for the healthcheck thing, I honestly have no idea. I always thought you could get one just by asking. But no idea why it’s not done regularly/automatically, I don’t know.
How a HCA can run 40 minutes late and then not have 20 seconds to check your BP amazes me.
Perhaps s/he has delusions of grandeur about being a GP who can have genuine reasons for running late (emergencies etc).
Yeah, it bemuses me, too.
Mind you, I tend to believe that people who work at GP surgeries *tend* to be ones who get sacked from councils for poor time-keeping. I think my favourite one was the Norfolk one where I waited half an hour for my appointment, despite it being the first appointment of the day. No excuse, no apology.
I acknowledge that it’s good to be signed up with a local GP, but after Monday when I get my blood-test results, I fully expect to not darken their doors again.